I’ve been giving some thought recently to just how lucky I am. If you have read my earlier posts, you will know I achieved that first goal of most writers seeking publishing–signing with an agent–more from good luck than good management. If you’ve had much to do with publishing or writing, you will be aware just how rare my streak of luck was.
What you may not be aware of is that I had some serious angst about whether I wanted an agent at all. What? I hear you say, and I know! Weird, huh?
Things can work slightly differently in publishing down here at the bottom of the world in kiwiland–for fantasy anyway. When I was a baby writer dreaming big dreams of seeing my very own novel in a bookshop, an agent didn’t feature at all. In fact, when my luberly crit partner and sister Wen, first brought up the whole agent concept, I looked at her like she’d grown a second head.
You see, if you’d asked me a year ago what I wanted for my first novel, I’d have told you immediately the name of a certain publisher and waxed lyrical about how I was going to have to print out my manuscript and wrap it up with all my hopes and send it off to them if I wanted to be published. It was how I thought you did it–down here anyway. No middle men. And that was how I saw an agent–a middleman who, incidentally, wanted a commission.
Needless to say, Wen convinced me that there is a whole other world out there–ahem, actually, the whole rest of the world. And I saw that an agent gave you scope far beyond just one publisher–opening doors to many editiors and many publishing houses.
What I am now beginning to appreciate it, is that there is so much more to it. Weronika has completed a round of very insightful edits on my first novel–and I’ve learned so much from her and the whole experience. I’ve grown as a writer and I truly believe the book that comes out of Weronika’s and my partnership will be a dozen times better than the book that I started with. She is just as enthusiastic about my story and my characters as I am–and offers insights into them that I am too close to see. She is like a super crit partner–because not only does she make suggestions, she has a wealth of publishing perspective to add as well.
And she supports me as a writer–not just as a client whose book will hopefully earn her a commission, as quickly as possible thank you very much.
I was really touched to get an email from her the other day reassuring me (among other things like: don’t sweat the word count, and it really is still funny) if the editing process got too much, that she wanted me to not feel guilty about wanting to be writing instead. No rush, no timeline, no timeframe and no pressure to get to the next stage–she wanted me to feel comfortable, happy and retain my enthusiasm. Her support means everything to me–when I’m unsure, she is there to bolster me, when I am feeling a bit doubtful that the book will ever be what I want it to be, she’s there with a few words that just turn my whole mood around.
I just thought it was a good time to say thank you–and let all you yet-to-be-agented writers out there, an agent is definitely worth having on your side.
In all, when I sell Fickle (and hopefully a whole career’s worth of subsequent novels!) my agent’s commission will be the best dollars I’ve ever spent.
